A Planet Like Home
by TheEleventhWheatley
Summary: A crashing ship, a helpful robot and a strange little man in a bow tie. The Doctor, Jamie, Ben and Polly arrive on the Deltan, a scientific study ship in orbit of a potential Earth Two - but disaster isn't very far behind. Something lives on the planet, something ancient and very, very nasty. And it's met the Doctor before.
1. Prelude

REBOOTING…

REBOOTING…

THANK YOU FOR USING EPSILON TECHNOLOGIES

PLEASE WAIT

S8-W3 IS NOW ONLINE

The damaged optic surveyed the surrounding area. The resulting scans indicated that the unit was isolated in a small cavern, surrounded by…

…its innards.

Circuitry and metal were splayed across the uneven, rocky floor. Several parts were covered in cobwebs, indicating a long period of time since the unit's deactivation.

Audio circuits were activated, immediately detecting a noise. Damaged circuits took some time to identify it, but it was eventually registered as rain.

To a human, this sound could be identified as "pleasant" or "nice". To this unit, it registered caution, as some circuits were incredibly sensitive to liquid contact. There were two current factors interfering with the alert. One: This unit was indoors. Two: The circuits needing protection were not currently connected to this unit. They were several metres away. On fire.

A damage report initiated.

DAMAGE REPORT…

PLEASE WAIT

DAMAGE REPORT COMPLETE

DAMAGE: IRREPARABLE.

Irreparable!

Not good news.

REMINDER

REMINDER

DATA RECORDS SHOULD BE SURVEYED TO DETERMINE PROBABLE CAUSE OF DAMAGE

The survey commenced.

NO RECORDS FOUND

The unit's reasoning chip determined that they may have been wiped.

Another system scan revealed an mp4 file, hidden deep within its innumerable programs and systems.

The file was titled: _Watch this, please_

This unit complied.

_The video showed a little man with floppy hair, in dishevelled clothes and a bow tie. He crouched behind what appeared to be the controls of a ship, surrounded by debris and what appeared to be bits of the ceiling._

_He looked up at the camera. "S8-W3!" he exclaimed. "If I timed this correctly, your memory has been wiped, no?"_

_A small explosion nearby sent him flying across the control room. He scrambled back into the viewpoint of the camera. "This information is vital, and must not fall into the wrong hands! This ship is crashing! Now pay attention! A file has been installed into this that should redownload all your memory back into your systems."_

MEMORY FILE IDENTIFIED

REDOWNLOADING

"_Now, in case I don't make it, you should know what to do!" He stopped, his face creasing with concern. "You know, I don't believe I introduced myself."_

Hardly necessary, decided the unit.

_Yet another explosion decimated the room. The man pulled himself up to the camera until only his face was visible._

"_Hello. I'm the Doctor."_

Suddenly the screen was consumed with fire, and the picture went static.


	2. Episode One: Chapter One

The unit (who had technically realised that his name was S8-W3) replayed the video six hundred and ninety-seven times to gain more information about it, while waiting for his memory to finish redownloading.

He'd got past all the boring stuff, like his creation and introduction to his creators, and had recently learnt that he worked on the scientific research spacecraft the Deltan. It seemed that the Deltan was a study craft, orbiting the Earth-like planet Kepler 22b, or just Kepler, as they had nicknamed it. He was a service robot who just generally helped around.

ERROR

YOU CANNOT ACCESS THE NEXT FILE

IT HAS NOT COMPLETED DOWNLOADING

TIME TO COMPLETE DOWNLOAD: 6hrs 27mins

The artificial intelligence interaction drives were fully activated – so at least he'd be able to think humanly.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE DRIVES ENGAGED

Whoah! S8-W3 was back!

His head buzzed with plans and thoughts, all organised in a humanly way. It took some effort, but he was able to successfully give each one some thought and get back to waiting.

He began to wonder where he was. He knew he was in a cave, obviously, but where was the cave? It was most likely on Kepler, but where on Kepler?

Where was everyone? What was he doing here? How long had he been out?

With the AI drives engaged, his mind was full of questions. With it disengaged, he was only interested in his immediate surroundings.

He decided to play some music to take his mind off it.

The small, dank cavern reverberated with the sound of an orchestra playing 'Carmen'.

Suddenly he discovered that the next file had finished downloading.

Being an AI had its advantages.

The file began to play.

It was a quiet, peaceful day on the 4232nd day of the mission…

…

The TARDIS materialised, wheezing and groaning, in a barren grey room stacked with crates and boxes.

The Doctor stepped out, staring with mild distaste at his surroundings, and then stepped back in.

"Not today, thank you." he declared, and closed the door.

"No, Doctor, wait!" Polly exclaimed, and opened it again. "What's out there?"

"Nothing much." the Doctor sounded disinterested.

Jamie entered the control room. "We've landed, then?" he asked, peering quizzically at the open doors.

"Well, yes." admitted the Doctor, and frowned.

"Where?" asked Polly.

"Somewhere rather futuristic."

"But I've had enough of futuristic space bases. After the Cybermen."

"And the Macra." added Jamie.

"Oh, who could forget the Macra?" muttered the Doctor. "Where's Ben?"

"Ah well," Jamie said, after a long silence, "Shall we have a look around?"

"Well, we can't go out there without Ben, can we?" Polly objected, sounding slightly hurt.

"Go out where without me?" Ben stepped from outside corridor, examining the outside.

A pause.

There was a shout from outdoors. "Hey!"

They all whipped round, just in time to see several guards with very large guns, running at full speed towards them.

"Close the doors!" ordered the Doctor, before realising that everyone was looking at him.

He then realised he was the only one who knew how to close the doors. He pressed a button and they slammed shut in the guards' faces. There was the sound of thumping on the doors, and the Doctor's companions looked at them anxiously. The Doctor was already operating the controls.

Suddenly, Polly gave a cry. Everyone turned to see the source of her alarm, and discovered a small robot hovering across the console room. It was a thing like an upturned dish, chrome-coloured, with an eye-stick emerging from the high point of the dish. Under it were two, short, stubby arms that _waved_ at them as it went.

"Hello!" the robot grinned, burbling electronically.

"W-who are you?" exclaimed the Doctor, peering with intrigue at the small construct.

"I'm S8-W3," the robot declared, "And you are…?"


	3. Episode One: Chapter Two

Jamie reached for the knife concealed in his boot, but the Doctor indicated otherwise with a wave of his arm.

"It's alright, Jamie, he's quite safe."

S8-W3 surveyed the control room. "It's big in here."

"Tell me," the Doctor began, "How did you end up in here?"

"Yeah," Ben added, "We've just taken off, you know."

"I came in here as you opened the door," recounted S8-W3.

…

Deep in the cave, S8-W3 recalled that he had been ordered up to the control room. For what, he did not know. But his AI drives hadn't been engaged, so the mysterious blue box in front of him hadn't meant anything to him at the time.

Once he had accidentally flown into the box, it had taken him about fifteen seconds to decide to engage the drive and approach the strangers with caution but politeness.

…

"…but I couldn't make head or tail of your box, so I engaged my AI drives, and here I am."

"AI drives?" enquired Polly, peering with interest at the little bot.

"Yes – they allow me to look at a situation or interact with others as a human would."

"Well, they sound terribly useful," muttered the Doctor. "Now listen here, S8-W3, we've just taken off. So if you're planning on going back outside, I rather suggest you think twice."

"Taken off?"

"Yeah," Ben explained, "the TARDIS can go anywhere in the universe."

"Indeed," the Doctor paused. "And any_when_. So once we've taken off, there's almost no chance of us being able to return to that exact point in space and –"

"I have every co-ordinate you might need for returning to the _Deltan_."

"The _Deltan_?"

"The ship you were on. I trust this vehicle is a teleportation vessel?"

"Well, I suppose you could put it that way," Jamie muttered. He lowered his voice: "Though however this thing works is beyond me."

"Anyway," the Doctor interrupted, "About these, uh, co-ordinates of yours?"

"Oh yes. I'll just get them up."

There was a long pause as S8-W3 searched his database.

…

The rain lashed outside. Wherever he was, S8-W3 reasoned, it couldn't be that nice a place.

Suddenly he was reminded of the co-ordinates as they swam into his memory banks.

01-244-2458-011 was the space vector.

198-3336-942 was the current recorded time vector.

…

"There," announced the Doctor, turning back to face his companions. "I've inputted the co-ordinates and we should be returning to the _Deltan_ in no time at all."

The TARDIS suddenly shook and juddered, throwing everyone to the floor. S8-W3 flailed around in the air, struggling to stay upright as the centre of gravity was violently uprooted and hurled across the room along with everyone else.

"Oh no!" the Doctor cried, struggling to grip onto the console. He began to slip, and ended up hanging onto S8-W3's hover drive, in mid-air as he swung about, trying to stay up.

He failed, and the Doctor and his robot handhold tumbled to the floor-that-used-to-be-a-wall. They cried out as they hit the ground, the Doctor immediately jumping to his feet, and falling over again as the TARDIS returned to the usual upright position.

"What happened?" Polly whimpered, getting up from the floor.

The Doctor brushed himself down and checked everyone else over before answering her: "I may not be entirely correct, but it does seem that there's strong temporal interference in this area of space-time."

"Strong?" Ben echoed. "I'll say!"

"What's causin' it?" Jamie hadn't been with the Doctor that long – a couple of weeks maybe – but he knew that it was always a good idea to ask questions.

"I don't always like to guess, but it does seem almost like there's some kind of time pocket preventing us from landing!"

"But we have landed, haven't we?" Polly frowned.

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by an awful, ghastly roar that seemed loud enough to deafen them. The TARDIS shook again and suddenly spun again. The Doctor flapped his arms around, barely noticing Ben, Polly and Jamie doing the same. S8-W3 clasped onto the console for a few seconds, but failed to continue doing so as the TARDIS snapped back upright.

After getting up from the floor, Jamie rubbed his head and noticed the Doctor doing the same.

"Och," he frowned, flinching as he found an awful lump on his head, "What happened this time?!"

He paused, unable to hear himself.

Secretly pleased to notice the others doing the same, he attempted to mouth to the Doctor "Why can't I hear ye?"

The Doctor's face creased as he attempted to decipher what Jamie was saying.

Jamie mouthed it again.

Again the Doctor struggled to work out what he was saying.

The TARDIS shook again, one last time, and was still.

The Doctor was delighted to discover he could hear things again.

"Oh, that was awful!" Polly exclaimed. "What happened this time?"

"I think we've actually landed this time," admitted the Doctor, looking rather sheepish. "Terribly sorry," he added immediately afterwards.

"Ooh, my processors," complained S8-W3, "So you reckon we've landed?"

"Almost inevitably," grinned the Doctor, opening the doors.

They slid open to reveal the guards from several minutes earlier, pointing guns at them.

The Doctor's face fell.

Several minutes later, the Doctor and co. were standing in the main control room of the _Deltan_, trying unsuccessfully to convince the captain, Captain-whoever-he-was, Jamie couldn't quite remember if he'd told them his name or not, that they really _were_ from another time, and that the blue box of theirs really _was_ bigger on the inside and really _could_ travel through time and space. And that they really _hadn't _kidnapped S8-W3.

Understandably, it was rather difficult.

The Captain stood up from his chair. "You expect me to believe this rubbish?!"

The Doctor cleared his throat, "Well, it's understandable you might have trouble comprehending it, Mr Brighting," – Jamie took note of the name – "but everything I've told you is completely true. Your little robot friend down here can vouch for every moment of it."

"It's true." cut in S8-W3.

"Shut up, S8-W3," ordered the Captain, "When I want your opinion, I'll ask for it!"

"Don't be so harsh on the poor thing," interrupted the Doctor, "He is telling the truth, you know, and so are we."

"A machine can be reprogrammed, providing you have the knowledge," frowned the Captain, pointing an accusing finger at the Doctor, "And I'd say the Pull Back to Earth movement has the knowledge."

The Doctor looked visibly offended. "I have _nothing_ to do with the Pull Back to Earth movement. In fact, I should probably warn you – what year actually _is_ it?"

The Captain practically exploded. "_What year is it_?! Where are you _from_, you hippies?" He looked up and down at the Doctor's scruffy attire.

Jamie was bemused. "Hippies? What're hip-"

"Not now, Jamie."

"And for your information," continued Captain Brighting, "the year is 2327."

"Ah, 2327. I suppose the Mars attack has already happened, then."

"The Mars attacks were 17 years ago!" exploded the Captain. "I've had enough of you and your weird lot. Lock 'em up, and we'll radio Earth for instructions."

Two robotic security guards homed in on the Doctor, Ben, Jamie and Polly, and were about to grab them when someone at the ship's controls screamed, spasmed, clutched at his head and collapsed.

The Doctor shoved rudely past the robots and the Captain, hurried to the unfortunate technician and checked his pulse.

There was none.

"He's dead."


	4. Episode One: Chapter Three

Captain Brighting peered suspiciously at the Doctor, who was crouched over the corpse, examining its head with a stethoscope.

"Look," ordered the Captain, "Who gave you permission to examine him? And why on Earth are you using a ruddy stethoscope?!"

"In reverse order," replied the Doctor, "It's not a stethoscope, it's a piece of extremely advanced Hooloovoovian equipment that just so happens to resemble one of your Earth stethoscopes, and I gave myself permission to examine him. No-one else seems to be."

"I've got a medical team on the way," interjected the Captain, "So step aside, or I'll be forced to get these robots to make you."

Ben exchanged a nervous glance with Polly. Jamie peered across at the two robots, just sort of hovering there, looking rather threatening.

"Oh, that's fascinating," muttered the Doctor, "Do you know, this man's brain has lost all primary functions…"

The Captain sighed. This eccentric stranger was doing no-one any favours. "Of course it would, you idiot. He's dead."

"No, no, not like that." frowned the Doctor. "He lost all primary functions twenty-seven minutes ago."

The Doctor's companions inhaled sharply. The rest of the crew looked nervous.

"Don't be ridiculous –" began the Captain, but he was cut off by a very cross Doctor.

"Oh, stop being so obnoxiously…human, would you? What further evidence do you need?!"

The Captain, rather stunned by the Doctor's unexpected outburst, mumbled something sheepishly and looked across at the robots.

"Arrest them."

The two robots jerked into life, swinging round to face the Doctor and his three companions.

"Oh no," gasped Polly.

Jamie pulled the knife from his boot.

Ben stepped in front of Polly.

The ship suddenly shook, twisted and turned in an almighty explosion of something.

Everyone was thrown to the floor, and the Doctor found himself falling against the control consoles, where he was especially alarmed to find that the ship was, apparently, crashing.

"Oh my word!" he exclaimed, scrambling to his feet in an attempt to fix it.

"What's happening now?!" shrieked S8-W3.

"This ship is crashing!" the Doctor yelled.

"_WHAT_?!" shouted the Captain, shoving the Doctor away from the controls.

"Excuse me!" the Doctor interjected, pushing the Captain back in order to use the controls.

"- I was going to stop it crashing –"

"- so was I –"

"- I'm the captain of this ship -"

"- I'm the Doctor –"

"- I don't ruddy care –"

"- Do you want to crash or not –"

"- Not! But I'm going to stop it –"

"- I'm going to stop it –"

_CCFRZZZZZZPPPPHT!_

Again, the ship twisted and spun. Jamie, Ben and Polly rushed to join the Doctor. The security robots flailed about, S8-W3 gripped onto a support, and the rest of the crew were thrown about like a feather in a thunderstorm.

"Oh, for goodness' sake!" chorused the two men, both reaching to press a button at the same time –

SYSTEMS RESTORED

The captain was flung back from the controls.

ENGINES ONLINE

Jamie stumbled and fell as the ship righted itself.

CRISIS AVERTED

The warm, female voice rang out across the ship.

"Oh, thank goodness." panted Polly, rising from the floor.

"Well, that was a relief, wasn't it?" grinned the Doctor, disentangling himself from the mess of companions.

He looked back at the ship's crew, and the Captain, and grinned smugly.

"There. I'd like to say a few words –" he began, but trailed off as he noticed that the crew were simply standing there, blankly, not responding. Even the Captain.

"Hello?" frowned the Doctor.

"What's the matter with them?" asked Ben.

"I can honestly say I'm afraid I have no idea." answered the Doctor. He turned back to the controls. "Perhaps it has something to do with whatever killed that poor man?"

"You mean the poor man currently standing over there?" asked Jamie, his face creasing with concern.

Polly gasped.

It was true. The man they had seen killed earlier was now standing with the others, watching them with the same blank expression as them.

"Oh dear." the Doctor mumbled, "This can't be good."

And then, as one, the group of people lurched forward, each limb in sync, robotic in motion.

And they closed in on the Doctor and his friends.


End file.
